TROPESS CrIS-JPSS1: Atmospheric Gas Profiles Over Los Angeles Megacity

From April 2021 to present, this dataset provides daily vertical profiles of seven atmospheric gases and temperature over a 3x3 degree region centered on Los Angeles. Data is measured by the CrIS instrument on the NOAA-20 satellite at 14 km spatial resolution and reported across 17 vertical levels. The NASA TROPESS project, led by Kevin W. Bowman, processes the data using the MUSES optimal estimation algorithm.

Use Cases

• Modeling urban air pollution dynamics based on vertical profiles of gases like CO and O3.
• Analyzing temporal trends in greenhouse gases such as CH4 over a major metropolitan area.
• Studying atmospheric water vapor and its isotopic composition (H2O, HDO) in a megacity environment.
• Validating chemical transport models using satellite-retrieved gas concentrations and temperature.

Strengths

• Data covers a continuous time period from April 2021 to the present.
• Provides vertical distribution at 17 levels from the surface to 0.1 hPa.
• Includes formal uncertainties for each retrieved atmospheric variable.
• Focuses on a defined 3x3 degree region over the Los Angeles megacity.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the single Los Angeles region.

Provenance

Source

NASA TROPESS project via GES DISC.

Collection Method

Satellite measurements from the CrIS instrument on the NOAA-20 (JPSS-1) spacecraft, processed with the MUSES optimal estimation algorithm.

Time Range

2021-04-01 to present.

Freshness

Data is updated daily, with coverage extending to the present.

Geography

3x3 degree region centered on Los Angeles, USA.